Teenage diver missing off Devon coast

The following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Tuesday August 26 2008

We said in the article below that scuba divers ascend to the surface slowly to regulate the pressure in their lungs. In fact, staged stops are carried out to allow the safe release of nitrogen that has been absorbed into the body tissues during the dive.

A 14-year-old diver went missing in the sea off the south coast of Devon yesterday, despite having been just metres away from his father in the water alongside him.

A search and rescue operation with police, coastguards, local divers, 20 boats and two helicopters continued until 9pm last night with no success. Divers from Devon and Cornwall police found nothing when they searched the 20 metre deep waters less than 200 meters off Berry Head in Torbay where the boy had disappeared at around 1.15pm. As hope faded for his survival, coastguards said they would decide this morning whether it would be worth resuming the search.

The father and son have not been named but were understood to be holidaymakers from Wales. They had been ascending from their dive in stages, a procedure aimed at regulating the pressure in their lungs. They stopped 10 metres from the surface, and the boy gave his father a signal to say he was fine and ready to make the final swim to the surface. But when his father reached the air he looked around him and his son was nowhere to be seen.

"There was nothing untowards about the weather and they were quite close to shore, so what happened is a mystery", said Andy Huber, watch manager at Brixham rescue centre.

Conditions were "reasonable" but gales were forecast for later. During the search winds gusted up to gale force six.

Yesterday evening the boy's father and mother were being looked after at Torbay lifeboat station, while rescuers conceded that the chances of finding their son on the surface were dwindling. The couple later returned to their holiday accommodation.

The pair had been diving from a rigid hulled inflatable boat, not equipped with a VHF radio. A mayday signal was given from the Jennifer Ann, a charter boat skippered by Rick Parker, another diver in the area at the time. Parker began to search while lifeboats from Torbay, Teignmouth and Salcombe and two helicopters made their way to the site. Crews of private fishing and diving boats in the area helped in the search.